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Hearing set in soldier shooting deaths
Specialist accused of killing fellow troops
JohnCarrillo
Spc. John Carrillo Jr., 20, of Stockton, Calif., was one of the soldiers killed in the shooting in Fallujah. - photo by File photo

A pretrial hearing for Spc. Neftaly Platero, the 3rd Infantry Division soldier accused of shooting and killing two fellow soldiers and wounding a third, has been set for March 14, according to several e-mails sent by U.S. Forces Iraq press desk officers.
Platero is accused of killing Spc. John Carrillo Jr., 20, of Stockton, Calif., and Pfc. Gebrah P. Noonan, 26, of Watertown, Conn., on Sept. 23 in Fallujah, Iraq. He is also accused of shooting and wounding a third soldier whose name has not been released by the Defense Department. Previous media reports allege the shooting followed a verbal altercation.
Carillo and Noonan were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Bri-
gade Combat Team, 3rd ID. The 4th brigade deployed to Iraq in July.
Platero is currently being held at the Camp Arifjan Theater Field Confinement Facility in Kuwait.
“Platero has been charged with two specifications of Article 118, Uniform Code of Military Justice (murder), and one specification of Article 80, UCMJ (attempted murder),” said Staff Sgt. Sean Everette, press desk officer at the media operations center, U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq, in an e-mail Tuesday. “These charges were preferred (filed) on Oct. 20, 2010.”
Everette stressed the charges against Platero are considered accusations only and said Platero “is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”
“Based upon the outcome of the (pretrial hearing), the commanding general will determine whether the
 evidence supports referring the case to trial, and, if so, what level of court-martial is appropriate,” explained Capt. Leslie Waddle, a press desk officer with U.S. Forces Iraq.
“At this point, consistent with the presumption of innocence, it would be inappropriate to comment on what action might be taken at that time, but, if the evidence supports referral to court-martial, the level of court, and the location of trial is one of several decisions the commanding general will be authorized to make.”

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